eye on the occupy d.c. encampments. this is a live look at mcpherson square. it is the first night since park police enforced the no-camping rule at mcpherson square and freedom plaza. the rule means protesters can have tents on the grounds, but they cannot sleep or cook inside of them. anyone who breaks the rule could be arrested. we are watching both camps, and everything is quiet right now. some protesters tweeted throughout the night documenting that everyone is staying awake. demonstrators are holding what they call a 24-hour vigil. stay with us. if anything happens at either location, we'll had the you know. and good morning to you, welcome to "news4 today," i'm eun yang. >> good morning to you, i'm joe krebs. let's take a live look outside now. we have a new day dawning and a very nice day a-dawning. here's tom to tell us about it. tom? yeah, starting off with a clear sky. that was a live view from the skywatcher camera. right now, past 6:00 this morning, we are cold in many of the suburbs just north and west of washington, in fairfax, arlington, montgomery counties,

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in the mid to upper 30s to near 40. reagan national at 40 degrees. it's near 40 in prince george's county. and much of southern maryland near the bay, in the low 40s as well as the northern neck and eastern shore. many locations are in the upper 30s. we're above freezing about everywhere. leesburg at the freezing mark, a little below freezing in frederick. and elsewhere, though, all above freezing, in the 40s to upper 30s, shenandoah valley, and out of the mountains, milder. it's already hit the 50s there. we have some high clouds, though, drifting in from the west. they'll be with us this morning through midday. and that won't stop the temperature from warming up with a persistent southwesterly breeze. we should hit the mid to upper 60s by later this afternoon. and our sunrise at 7:16. sunset at 5:28. a look at the evening planner in ten minutes. here's traffic. good morning, danella. good morning. chopper 4 is live over i-270 at 370 southbound. the taillights getting just a little busy. are you going to see the bulk of your volume coming out of urbana. and you are slow to clarksburg.

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once you get around germantown, it's a little better. i can tell you your volume is increasing as you continue to rockville. no accidents in this area. thanks, chopper. and traveling i-95 in virginia, you are starting to slow, as well, as you travel north past the occoquan. no accidents in the roadway for you. and you are just under speed at 46 miles per hour from prince william parkway to the capital beltway. that trip will take you 16 minutes. and on the rails, an eight-minute delay on the marc, brunswick east train 872. joe, back to you. >> thank you very much. today is a pivotal day in the republican presidential primary race. in less than an hour, polls open for florida's primary. mitt romney is holding a commanding lead in the winner-take-all state. nbc's tracie potts is in tampa and joins us live. good morning. >> reporter: hey, joe. good morning. we'll be watching today to see if he can hold on to that commanding lead or how much of it he can hold on to when

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floridians here go to the polls. i am live in tampa which is hosting the republican convention. we're watching what voters are going to see. half a million have voted early in the contest. according to the exit polls, the early voters are favoring romney 2-1. it milkics what we've seen in the nbc maris poll, in the latlater rasmussen poll has him up. advertising appears to have had an impact. romney has outspent newt gingrich 4-1. that's when you include the pacs. the strategy for romney, he admits it's changed a bit. he's become a lot more aggressive against gingrich which has turned into some negative advertising. might gingrich be closing the gap? over the weekend, there are a couple of other polls that showed him behind by five to seven points. he was campaigning yesterday with michael reagan, with herman

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cain who has endorsed him. the big question here, conservatives, who can win them and n electability -- in electability and beat barack obama. >> tracie potts, thank you very much. and news4's doreen gentzler and aaron gilchrist will be watching the results from florida come in and hosting a live web chat at the same time. you can join the conversation on nbcwashington.com. 6:04. breaking news. at least 11 al qaeda militants were killed in an overnight air strike in yemen. witnesses say a drone targeted a caravan just east of the city of lawdar in southern yemen. at least four of the militants were local al qaeda leaders. no civilians were hurt. al qaeda is attempting to use political unrest in yemen to gain influence among the people and the government there. today secretary of state hillary clinton will meet with united nations security council to talk about syria. clinton says she will support a plan that condemns the syrian president's regime, demands the regime stop cracking down on its citizens, and implements an arab

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league peace plan. the measure calls for the syrian president to transfer his power to his vice president and allow elections. the u.n. says the regime has killed more than 5,400 people since the uprising began in march. 6:05. former prince george's county executive jack johnson will remain out of prison for two more weeks. he was scheduled to turn himself in to authorities friday. according to the "washington post," the federal bureau of prisons says it's not completed an evaluation or finalized plans where they will send him. the 62-year-old is expecting to go to see butner federal prison ---ing to to see buttser in federal prison in north carolina where bernie madoff resigns. he pled gilly in may to receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from developers. jance was sensed -- johnson was sentenced to more than seven years in prison. he's expected to turn himself in february 18. a proposal to raise maryland's gasoline tax is getting a twist. governor on, mally is proposing

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the 6% sales tax be charged on every gallon of gas on top of the current gas tax. the tax would be phased in in 2% increments over three years. that could total more than 18 cents a gallon in taxes by the end of those three years and could raise more than $600 million for transportation funding. our time is 6:06. the tweets that got two tourists detained here in the u.s. detained here in the u.s. plus, a temperature swing .. hi. i was on carmax dot com and i think i found the one. great car. and i think, it's right over there... (sighes)... finding your perfect car is easy at carmax because we carry only the highest quality used vehicles. and at carmax dot com, you can choose from nearly 30 thousand cars with most available for transfer to the store nearest you. so come find the one for you today... at carmax.

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busy day! yes it is! just a second. just, just one second. ♪ what are you looking at? don't look up there. why are you looking up? ♪ get outta the car. get outta the car. ♪ are you ok? the... get in the car. get in the car! [ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to spending your lives together, chevy runs deep.

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that's just the baby. take a look at this big boy. a woman from iowa gave birth to a baby boy that weighs nearly 14 pounds. that's 1-4. >> ouch. >> meet asher, he measures 23

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inches and weighs 13 pounds, 13 ounces. his mother, kendall stewartson, chose to deliver him naturally. that means no pain medication and no surgery. and that's the way she and her husband wanted it. she was in labor for six hours. her other son weighed 12 pounds when he was born. >> man. >> 14 pounds! i can't get over him. >> amazing. >> he looks like a six-month-old. >> your kids -- >> 6.3 and 6.6. >> combined less than he was. think about it. >> i don't want to, though. my goodness gracious. good for her, though. >> congratulations to her and the whole family. hope they wish them well. we'll go to tom kierein now. >> good morning. it's 6:10 on this tuesday morning. around the region, a few high clouds drifting in now. a variety of temperatures. right now 30s and 40s, much of the region, 40 at reagan

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national. high clouds will be us into the afternoon hours. that won't stop a warming trend. we want to hit the mid to upper 60s by mid-afternoon. a terrific day coming up. here's your evening planner, sunsets at 5:28. we'll cool after sunset. it will be in the upper 40s at midnight under a mostly clear sky. we'll have the changes to the week coming up in ten minutes. traveling 395 approaching duke, you have an accident in the right shoulder lane. lanes are open. you are seeing volume increase on 395, but connecting to the 14th street bridge is not a problem as of yet. and giving you a travel speed, 48 miles per hour. not so bad as you continue into the city. back to you. >> thanks. 6:11. 40 degrees. ahead, the swuf an exploding air bag problem. plus, prince harry's somewhat surprising admission about his grandmother, the queen.

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emergency crews rushed to the aid of a small jet that overshot a runway at bwi thurgood marshall airport. the plane came to rest soin som grass. two people on board are okay. the plane came from the poconos in pennsylvania. the incident did not affect any air traffic. florida's governor is ordering an sfwhoefgz a deadly 2 -- an investigation into a deadly 20-car pileup. he wants to know why authorities reopened the highway early sunday morning. heavy snoqualmmoke plus fog bli drivers. the chain-reaction crash killed ten people. troopers had reopened the interstate about 15 minutes before the pileup began. the florida highway patrol defended its decision to reopen the highway saying that visibility had improved, and then deteriorated quickly. 6:15 now. the deadly shipwreck in italy is having a financial impact on carnival cruise lines. the company owns the "costa concordia" which hit a reef more than two week ago. carnival says since the crash,

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it's had a major drop in reservations and estimates a loss of about $175 million in profits. salvage teams say it could be a year before they can remove the partially sunken cruise ship from the waters. two european tourists traveling to the united states got into some trouble because of the tweets. tabloids in the u.k. reported a couple made what some security officials took to be threatening comments on twitter before a trip to los angeles. one tweet apparently said, "free this week for a quick gossip prep before i go and destroy america." in the u.k., destroy is slang for partying or drinking. u.s. customs and border protection tells nbc that authorities detained the couple before they boarded a flight to l.a. they were questioned and allowed to continue on their trip. 6:16 now. many of the president's top aides had reservations about the raid that killed osama bin laden. and now we know that one of them was vice president joe biden. according to abc news, biden

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told fellow democrats this weekend that he advised against the raid last spring, saying he wanted more evidence bin laden was in the pakistani compound. biden quoted himself as saying, "mr. president, my suggestion is don't go." he says the only person who wasn't hesitant was former secretary of defense, leon panetta. safety regulations are stepping up investigations of faulty air bags in chief liberties. 50 people were injured when their jeep liberty air bags deployed without a crash. initial report say the problems appear to be with the 2002 and 2003 models. chrysler which makes the suv says there have been no issues with vehicles that have been made after march of 2003. 6:17. the washington auto show is home to some of the hottest new cars and the coolest concepts for 2012. if you plan on going today, you could catch a glimpse of the president. president obama is expected to visit the convention center today. he will talk about the

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successful bailout of dpm and chrysler as well as -- g.m. and chrysler as well as efforts to boost fuel efficiency and a renewed focus on manufacturing. the white house plans to use the bailout as a point of contrast with mitt romney who opposed the move to rescue carmakers. today the washington auto show will hold a military tribute. organizers say they will announce vehicle discounts and job opportunities for military personnel. all active duty military and veterans will get into the show for free today. tonight the first lady heads to late night. michelle obama will be a guest on the "tonight show" with jay leno. she's expected to talk about life in the white house as well as let's move, her fitness initiative for children. this will be her third appearance on the "tonight show." and you can watch it here on nbc 4, right after news4 at 11:00. 6:18. the super bowl is just five days away, but before the new england and new york giants face each other on the field, they have to first face the media.

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today players and coaches will talk about the big game. for the first time in super bowl history, fans will be allowed to sit in the stands and watch the media day events. and our jim vance and dan hellie are in indianapolis now. tune in tonight for their favorite moments from what is sure to be an entertaining media day which always 3d some memorable moments. when vann and hellie -- with them there, who knows what could happen? >> don't want to think about it. as you know, it's been a year of defeats for the washington wizards. >> last night they suffered two losses. they fell to the chicago bulls 98-88. and big man andray blatche will be out three to five weeks with a strained left calf. the biggest problem for the wizards during the game, bulls' all-star point guard derek rose scored a season-high 35 points. john wall led the wizards with 20 points. the wizards still looking for their fifth win of the season and will try again tomorrow night against the orlando magic. the bank account of former nba and georgetown star allen iverson is being taken over by a judge in order to pay a hefty

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jewelry bill. court papers show that aid an and company jewelers sued iverson for $375,000 for an unpaid bill. iverson did not respond to the suit, so the judge garnished his earnings. and because of attorneys' fees, court costs and interests, iverson now owes more than $850,000 to the jeweler. iverson made more than $150 million during his 14 seasons in the nba. all right. it is 6:20 now. we are having a very nice morning. it's 40 degrees. a little on the chilly side. this is just the beginning of what's going to be very nice. meteorologist tom kierein they're tell us about the springlike weather. >> old man winter boarding a flight to jamaica yesterday. >> smart man. >> winter's taking a vacation. we are going to have quite a warmup. right now there is a chill in the air in montgomery, fairfax counties, mid 30s. arlington county, upper 30s near 40. near 40 in washington and prince george's county. much of southern maryland near

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the bay, low to mid 40s as well as northern neck, eastern shore. a few spots on the eastern shore in the 30s. farther west, we've dipped to near freezing right east of the blue ridge from rappahannock county to culpeper and western and northern fauquier into loudoun county and frederick county near the freezing mark. farther west, it's warmer. near 40 in shenandoah valley. into the 50s now into west virginia. just some high clouds now drifting over from the west. here's your day planner. sunrise at 7:16. we'll be in the 40s, much of the region, through mid morning. then rapidly climbing into the 50s after 9:00. then the 60s during the afternoon. in fact, maybe upper 60s to near 70 in parts of virginia this afternoon. then overnight tonight, we'll be clear and getting chilly again, near 40 tomorrow. might have a sprinkle north of the metro area tomorrow morning. then clouds in the afternoon. another mild day into the 60s on wednesday. rain likely on thursday. friday, sun back, chill for the weekend. still uncertain it whether or not we'll get rain on the weekend. we'll keep you posted.

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how's traffic? we are starting to slow down in our area. if you're traveling route 50, seeing delays from the beltway as you head westbound on 50 making your way on to new york avenue. traveling on i-95 in virginia, slow, as well. heading out of dale city, that's where you see your first set of delays. they continue. i'll give you a live look now passing the occoquan. you see that your volume is increasing. and travel speeds, under speed at 40 miles per hour as you make your way from the occoquan river bridge to the beltway. that trip will take you 15 minutes. continuing on to 395, still seeing the accident, right shoulder lane at duke heading northbound. back to you both. >> danella, thanks. 6:22. 40 degrees. coming up, mitt romney gets musical. ♪ for purple mountains majesty >> the speech that turned into a single-along in florida. and next, what prince

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[ male announcer ] dandruff, meet micro-beads. any last wishes? selsun blue deep cleansing micro-bead scrub works at the surface, wiping out flakes before they flake. selsun blue deep cleansing. welcome back. prince harry is opening up about his grandmother, queen elizabeth, in a rare interview. he says his grandmothers could not carry out her public duties without her husband, prince phillip. about her duty, he says, "these are things at her age she shouldn't be doing and yet she's

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carrying on and doing them." this summer the queen will celebrate 60 years on the throne. it's her diamond jubilee. well, if the presidential race comes down to a sing-off, mitt romney may have to start taking singing lessons. ♪ for purple mountains majesty above the fruited plain ♪ >> the republican contender tried his hand at bursting into song at a rally in florida last night. romney urged support force join him in a rendition of "america the beautiful." for weeks, the -- on the campaign trail, the former massachusetts governor has been reciting verses from what he calls his favorite patriotic hymn. and this isn't the first sing-along this month by a presidential candidate. the president sang a few lines of al green's "let's stay together" at a fundraiser at the apollo theater. >> and who will the next two contestants on "the voice" be?

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>> exactly. ahead, a controversy surrounding a rather more established singer. ♪ my home is here >> why some local fans of the boss are fuming this morning. boss are fuming this morning.

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i hear you're having a tough day, so i brought you a freshly made sandwich. you made me a sandwich? no, dunkin' did, but i wrote the note. new bakery sandwiches at dunkin' donuts. try the turkey cheddar bacon or ham and cheese today.

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the occupation continues this morning. local protesters are still in place even after the u.s. park service said it would begin to enforce a camping ban. good morning, welcome back to nufrts. i'm joe krebs. -- to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. it is the last day of january, january 31, 2012. look at the beautiful horizon. and it is not going to feel like january at all later today. beautiful morning it's going to give way to a beautiful day. tom kierein is here with details. >> pancakes. >> is that what you see? >> think of all the afternoon appointments being canceled. after you hear the forecast, you may be doing that. around the region, there is a

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chill in the air under this clear sky. just a few high clouds coming in. right now, 40 at reagan national. near 40 at prince george's county. much of arlington, fairfax, montgomery counties, in the mid 30s. near freezing in parts of loudoun county and fauquier county, along the blue ridge up toward frederick. but elsewhere, it is well above freezing. we're in the 40s shenandoah valley, out of the mountains in the 50s now. and we do have milder air coming in from the west and the southwest as we have a few of these high clouds drifting over a gorgeous sunrise underway over the potomac. here's the day plan ear -- sunrise at 7:16. temperatures will be soaring into the 60s by later this afternoon. mid and upper 60s during the afternoon. your evening planner coming up in ten minutes. now at 6:31, how's traffic? traveling i-95 in virginia, approaching prince william parkway, we have an incident blocking the right shoulder lane. it looks like possibly also the right lane. difficult to see on camera, but i can tell you are jammed as you

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make your way to prince william parkway. and traveling on 395, have an accident there slowing you down, as well. in fact, this is as you approach seminary road. this accident involves a tractor-trailer, and it's blocking the center lane. you can see delays as you make your way from the beltway northbound to seminary road. and in maryland, i-270 keeps getting really busy. you're hitting the brakes at father hurley. you'll start to keep hitting the brakes as you head to rockville. good news, no accidents in the roadway for you. you are going to see delays. back to you. >> danella, thank you. 6:32 now. right now we are keeping a close eye on the occupy d.c. encampments. it is the first night since park police enforced the no-camping rule at freedom plaza and mcpherson square. they have not moved. in fact, they put up a giant new policy. they are calling it the tent of dreams. tracee wilkins has more from overnight. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. they've put up a few new symbols to show park police what they think about the possibility of being evacuated off of this federal space.

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we'll take a look behind me. one of those signs is actually this large sign that says "high noon, usa park police showdown." this was put up yesterday. this was in anticipation of the park police possibly coming in and moving everyone off of mcpherson square. n a mass evacuation. that didn't -- square in a mass evacuation, but that didn't happen. nothing else has happened overnight. u.s. park police have been checking tents for sleeping occupiers and rep minding protesters that the two occupy d.c. sites -- at the sites that there is no camping rule on the federal sites. a park police spokesman, sergeant david schlosser, said officers began enforcing the camping ban yesterday. while he would not give a specific date and time for eviction, he said the camping ban also includes having bedding materials like sleeping bags and blankets on the site. the national parks service warned protesters last friday at mcpherson square and freedom plaza that those who violate the camping rule would be arrested. so far, there have been no

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arrests. now the campers have been up pretty much throughout the night, walking the perimeter of mcpherson square, looking out for the possibility of u.s. park police coming here. so far, no one has showed up. tracee wilkins, live in northwest. back to you in the studio. >> thank you. breaking news. at least 11 al qaeda militants were killed in an overnight air strike in embassy an. witnesses say a drone targeted a caravan east of the city of lawdar in southern yemen. at least four of the militants were local al qaeda leaders. no civilians were injured. al qaeda is attempting to use political unrest in yemen to gain influence among the people and the government there. 6:37. this morning, a marine nominated for the silver star is in the hospital. police say a man beat him with a club in crystal city. this is exclusive video. news4 exclusive story, rather. police say the attack happened outside a 7-eleven store. the victim is lance corporal jake aaron hill. according to sources, surveillance video shows hill

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talking with a woman named anita cook. sources say hill made some racial comment toward her. that's when she told her friend, marquee dawkins, who went to his car to get a club and attacked the reason. police arrested cook and dawkins for mall issue assault. dawkins remains in custody. this morning, one person is in the hospital seriously injured when a stairwell collapsed inside an apartment complex in southwest washington. the collapse trapped some people in their upstairs apartments. it happened last night in the 4300 block of mlk avenue southwest near bolling air force base. residents tell news4 the stairwell collapsed as a man was delivering a large piece of furniture. it is now 6:35. sheriff's deputies in loudoun county are on the lookout for a man who threatened some teenagers. the sheriff's office released this sketch. they say the man threatened teens at the ash burn shopping center on january 22. no one was hurt. if you recognize this man, call police. montgomery county police need your help in finding two missing teens from rockville.

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14-year-old alexis kirby and 13-year-old kaylynn wilson were seen on saturday. they both live on latachia place and often visit the verandas apartment complex in gaithersburg and the briggs cheney area of montgomery county. anyone who has seen these girls is asked to call montgomery county police. aftershocks from last summer's earthquake are still rattling the area. the magnitude 3.2 tremor struck mineral around 6:30 last night. people as far away as middletown, maryland, reported feeling it. this follows the magnitude 5.8 quake back in august that damaged the washington monument and national cathedral. so far there are no reports of damage. it's 6:36. near 40 degrees now. coming up, the salary survey that federal workers will want to hear about. plus, an early look at what may become the most talked about super bowl commercial, an '80s icon reborn. ♪ my home is here then at 6:55 this morning,

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holy pepperoni. a man is facing charge for crashing into a pizza shop sign with his jeep. police say the son of a former rival pizza shop owner drove right through the sign and then took off. police in western new york say that, boom, say that the son was upset that the sign made reference to his parents' former restaurant. let's get a grip. >> yeah, they're serious about their pizza. >> use our words. >> although pizza's very important. >> pizza is pretty important. i guess it is. >> all right. 6:40. look at the beautiful horizon out there. joe's thinking pancakes, i'm sure. >> that is a gorgeous day.

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>> tom has nice words for the scene. what do you say? >> yeah, the potomac looked like it was filled with blueberry juice. good morning, 6:41. around the region now under a mostly clear sky. there's a chill in the air. near freezing in western fairfax county and parts of prince william, fauquier, loudoun county, as well as up into frederick county, maryland. in washington, montgomery county, fairfax, arlington, prince george's county in the 30s to near 40 degrees from merrifield to tyson's corner, oxon hill, adelphi, mt. pleasant, silver spring. we have a few wispy high clouds. setting the stage for a technicolor sunrise which will be at 7:16 this morning. and we'll have it rapidly climbing into the 40s and 50s later this morning. and then into the 60s this afternoon. hitting the mid to upper 60s by mid-afternoon. then overnight tonight, over through the evening hours, temperatures down to near 40 by dawn tomorrow. could get rain on thursday.

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a look at the weekend in ten minutes. danella, how's traffic? think about how great the weather will be if you have to drive through this. on 95, a couple problems. northbound at duke, an accident in the right shoulder lane. you're jammed because you'll approach another accident. this is at seminary road blacking the center lane involving a tractor-trailer. a live look, bumper to bumper northbound. hov looks good. travel speed northbound slow crossing over the 14th street bridge at 31 miles per hour. taking the outer loop of the beltway in montgomery county, are you slowing down, as well. no accidents, but a little volume making your way past new hampshire avenue. your travel speed, 35 miles per hour. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks. 6:42. this morning, trains on the orange and blue lines are back up and running on their normal schedules. another cracked rail caused delays for riders. metro reported a cracked rail outside the rosalyn metro station yesterday. it is the fifth time a cracked rail has caused delays this

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month. metro says a combination of the swing in temperatures and the aging infrastructure are reasons behind the cracked rail. and a reminder for metro riders. starting tomorrow, metro is closing the south entrance at the back to you ponte circle station -- dupont circle station on 19th street. it will be closed as they install new escalators. riders will have to enter and exit using the north entrance on q street. 6:43. former prince george's county executive jack johnson will be free for two more week. johnson was scheduled to turn himself in to authorities this friday. according to the "washington post," the federal bureau of prisons says it has not completed an evaluation nor finalized plans on where they will send him. the 62-year-old is expected to go north carolina, the prison where bernie madoff is currently incarcerated. the former county executive pleaded guilty to receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from developers. johnson was sentenced to more

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than seven years in prison, and he's now expected to turn himself in for sentencing -- rather, for incarceration on, february 18. d.c. mayor gray is calling for an investigation into why the city poured more than $5 million into a failed plan to renovate vacant apartment buildings. the peace-aholics, an anti-gang nonprofit, was given city money to purchase three apartment complexes they planned to renovate in order to house at-risk young men. they no longer owned the complexes, and only one has opinion renovated. tenants at the -- been renovated. tenant at the other apartment complain of poor maintenance and of rodent issues. city council members are now trying to question why peace-aholics, which has little housing experience, was given the money in the first place. 6:44. mayor gray is commenting on the petition seeking to recall him from office, calling it ill advised. gray says his administration is making progress in several critical areas. he also says a district-wide

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special election would be expensive. political activist frederick butler filed a notice to recall gray and d.c. council chairman kwame brown. 45,000 signatures are needed to trigger a recall election. today, maryland lawmakers will hear arguments about legalizing gay marriage. governor o'malley introduced the legislation earlier this month to allow civil marriage between same-sex couples. supporters will hold a rally in annapolis this morning. last year a same-sex marriage bill passed the senate but failed in the house. a proposal to raise maryland's gas tax is getting a new twist. governor martin o'malley now wants to charge sales tax every time you head to the pump. news4's angie goff joins us with details. >> reporter: good morning. maryland lawmakers are looking for a way to bring in more money and a higher gas tax is at the top of the list. this new proposal by governor o'malley is likely to cause some controversy. the governor wants to charge the state 6% sales tax on every gallon of gas on top of the

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current gas tax. now right now gas is exempt from sales tax. and the plan would be phased in by 2% increments over the next three years. this means you would end up paying 18 cents a gallon more in taxes by the end of those three years. now to help you understand this, we're going to break it down for you in dollars and cents. say you have a 15-gallon tank and fill up weekly. right now the average for regular gas in the state is $3.48 a gallon. with a 6% sales tax, you would pay it $3 manufacturer for every fill-up -- $3 more for every fill-up. over a year that comes out to $156 more in taxes. if regular goes to $4 a gallon, which is what is expected by, say, the spring, you could be paying nearly $4 a gallon in sales tax or nearly $200 a year more for gas because of that tax. back to you. >> angie goff reporting. 6:46. there is a chance virginia students could be headed back to school before labor day next

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year. the virginia house education committee overwhelmingly passed a bill repealing the kings dominion law that requires schools to start after labor day. the new bill would let school districts decide if they want the school calendar to start before the holiday. the vote comes a week after the senate killed a similar bill. it heads to the full house of delegates. if the bill passes, it could set the stage for a showdown with the senate. parents are weighing in on the proposed fairfax county schools budget. officials held a first public hearing on the plan last night. the $$2.4 billion budget gives teachers the biggest raise since 2008 and expands foreign language instruction in elementary schools. it brings back honors classes. the school district is set to vote on the budget proposal later this year. today could be a turning point in decision 2012. polls open in just a little more than ten minutes at 7:00 for the florida primary. republican officials expect a record turnout. mitt romney is the favorite to

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win. he holds double-digit leads in four different polls. newt gingrich is coming off a primary win in south carolina, though. rick santorum lags behind in florida and has already moved on to missouri, a state he thinks he can win. exit polls from early voting show that romney is indeed leading the florida race. and as the results come in tonight, news4's doreen gentzler and aaron gilchrist will be hosting a live web chat. join the conversation on nbcwashington.com to let us know what you think about the results and about the candidates. 6:48. newt gingrich is facing a lawsuit for using theme music from the movie "rocky 3." ♪ the eye of the tiger it's the thrill of the fight ♪ >> and that is "eye of the tiger." the composer is suing gingrich for using the song at his campaign events. the lawsuit says the former house speaker did not get permission to use the 1982 movie anthem. attorneys for the gingrich campaign could not be reached for comment. this year, early bird tax

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filers are getting bad news. their refunds will be delayed. cnbc's jackie deangelis is live to explain. good morning. good morning, joe. if you filed your taxes already, you may have to wait about a week longer to get your refund. the delay is being caused by new safeguards that the irs is installing on its computers to help prevent refund fraud. the sdla limited to people who filed federal tax returns before january 6. watch for that. and there's another possible positive sign for the economy. a survey by the fed finding that banks are seeing more small businesses applying for loans. that's the highest level since 2005. economists say that that could signal that companies are more confident in the prospects for their business and the country, which could lead to an expansion in more hiring. that's it for us here at cnbc, back to you. >> all right. thank you very much. you have a great day. >> you, too. 6:49. federal workers on average make slightly more than those in the private sector. a new government study shows the average federal employee makes 2% more than a private sector

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worker in a similar position. when the government's generous -- add the generous benefits and pension package, that number jumps to 16%. employees with advanced degrees don't fare as well, making 23% less if they work for the government. the study may be a factor in the debate over whether a two-year pay freeze for federal workers is lifted. just about 6:51. time to look at the forecast. look at the sunrise. lovely. >> a beautiful start to the day. after you hear my forecast, you may want to pull a buhler today. an out-of-office auto reply. we'll be feeling more like june-uary than january. starting off, near 40 around the metro area. 40 at reagan national under a mostly clear sky. a few high clouds coming in, setting the stage for a technicolor sunrise which will be at 7:16 this morning. and as we look at temperatures, it is below freezing, western fairfax county, northern prince

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william to fauquier, loudoun, frederick county, maryland. near freezing in montgomery county. and prince george's county, in the upper 30s, near 40. near the northern neck and bay. mid 30s and 30s to near 40. above freezing shenandoah valley into the mountains. we're getting a few high clouds coming in just in time to set the stage for a terrific sunrise. already now beginning to glow beautifully. sunrise at 7:16. later today, it's going to be climbing quickly. we'll be into the 50s by late morning. 60s this afternoon. we'll be hitting the mid to upper 60s, maybe even near 70 in a few locations in virginia. areas from fredericksburg to culpeper, that region could hit near 70 degrees this afternoon. then overnight tonight, we'll be clearing a bit. we'll be down into the upper 40s by midnight. then some clouds around tomorrow morning. small chance of a sprinkle north of the metro area tomorrow. then sun back in and out. partly sunny with highs upper 60s. clouding up wednesday night. might get some light rain late wednesday into thursday.

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cooler weather for sure on thursday and friday, sun back but chilly with highs only near 50. chilly weekend to follow. and there's still uncertainty about whether or not we'll get rain over the weekend. stay tuned. danella, how's traffic? good morning.s live over i- dale city as you make your commute. you're going to have an accident in the right shoulder lane. tow truck on the scene. will clear. slow out of prince william parkway. traveling the beltway this time, the inner loop, have an accident blocking the right lane as you approach i-66. be aware of that. it's causing you big delays. in fact, you're jammed at robinson terminal. sorry, my camera's blurry at this time. and on the beltway hitting the brakes, outer loop at new hampshire avenue. be aware, you have a disabled blocking the left lane as you pass new hampshire avenue. i am see something volume on the outer loop in montgomery county because of it. now back to you both. >> all right. thanks. 6:52. today in virginia, transportation officials want you to get involved in the future planning of i-66. developers want public input on

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problems on the highway between route 15 in prince william county and the beltway in fairfax county. the first two of meetings will be held tonight at 5:00 at the four points sheridan on vander lane in manassas. another meeting will be held tomorrow at v-dot offices on alliance drive in fairfax. today's the most exciting day of super bowl week before the big game. it is media day. today players and coaches from the patriots and giants face questions from reporters. players get asked everything from normal sports questions to really whacky and just plain unusual. for the first time in super bowl history, too, fans will be allowed to sit in the stands and watch the media day events and presumably cheer and jeer along the way. >> that's right. and jim vance and dan hellie -- i'm having trouble with his name -- dan hellie are in indianapolis. tune in for their favorite moments from what is sure to be an entertaining media day. >> bueller? bueller? bueller?

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>> classic. after 26 years, everyone's favorite class cutter is back. and ferris bueller is going to the super bowl. this morning we're getting an early look at a new commercial that will air during the big game. matthew broderick stars in the ad promoting the honda crv crossover. ♪ oh yeah >> how can i handle work on a day like today? one of the worst performances of my career, and you never doubted it for a second. >> front desk. >> hi, can i get my crv brought up, please? i've got a lot to do today. >> broderick? broderick? >> you have excellent taste in automobiles. >> the commercial is a tribute to the 1986 comedy directed by john hughes. honda says there are dozens of references to the ferris bueller movie. watch to see how many you can count. honda says the primary goal is to support the launch of the crv while showing the youthful not of the brand. you can watch the commercial during the super bowl on nbc 4.

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looks fun. >> can't wait to see the whole thing. what a fun movie. the great thing is he looks almost the same. he has aged well. >> scary, isn't it? and another '80s icon -- in other '80s icon news, bruce springsteen and his e street band are coming to d.c. april 1. >> way before you were born. this morning, a lot of fans are hoping to see the boss at the verizon center. they're outraged this morning. ♪ come on baby >> tickets went on sale saturday new york and sold out within minutes. if you're still determined to go, gets ready to pay up. on craigslist, tickets that originally started at $71 now range from $220 to $900 a pop. on stubhub, some tickets are showing up for more than $1,800. ticketmastser issued a statement saying, "scalpers continue to violate rules meant to provide fair access to tickets only to exploit them by reselling tickets at many times the face

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value. we will continue to diligently work on behalf of artists and fans to fight against scalpers." that is outrageous. >> tough. and you're my new best friend, by the way. and tom is -- let's talk about the forecast. >> good morning. temperatures right now are chilly. but we will soar into the 60s later today. and again tomorrow, during the afternoon. chilly starts each morning. on thursday, a likelihood of some rain and some sun back on friday. still a little uncertainty about whether we'll get rain over the weekend. chilly. how's traffic? slow trip on 395. still have an accident in the right shoulder lane at duke street. crossing over the 14th street bridge, those delays continue. slow travel speed for you at 28 miles per hour. back to you both. >> thanks. and now you've done it. that's "news4 today." thanks for starting your day with us. >> the "today" show is next. we'll be back in 25 minutes with your weather and traffic and breaking news. we'll be back tomorrow starting